Together…

On their last night in Sibu, my visitors from Singapore invited my missus and my girl to join us for dinner. All this while, they had been left to their own devices as my car was too small to fit in all of us. That was why they chose the restaurant a couple of minutes’ walk from the hotel where they were staying so they could go there on their own while we drove straight there from home.

I went to this place once or twice a long long time ago when they were at their old location and since they moved here, initially, I did drop by in the mornings for their dim sum but come dinnertime, I had avoided it all this while as it would get extremely over-crowded and we might have to wait for a table…and worse still, while eating, there might be people standing beside you waiting for you to finish so they could grab your seats.

It is much better these days as they have extended the restaurant and is occupying the whole of the upper floor…

…and even though it may still be as crowded, there will not be much of  a problem getting a table. This was when we got there early at around 6.30 p.m. – by the time we left, it was completely packed! It is not air-conditioned but being open on one side and with the row of ventilating fans all along the wall on the other…

…plus all the fans, it really is quite cool and comfortable (and it had been raining earlier that evening before we got there)…and despite the crowd, the dishes were served pretty fast – we did not have to wait for a long time, not at all.

This place is famous for their (cheap) crabs…

…so we had that, with black pepper, and also for another signature dish of theirs, the Philippine pork leg…

…also known as crispy pata…

…which was so tender and nice and went absolutely well with the lime-flavoured sauce that came with it. We liked both the dishes even though the crabs were a little small.

We also had their butter prawns…

…which were nice too and of course, their fried midin (wild jungle fern)…

They loved how they did their salted egg bitter gourd…

…a lot. It was not bitter and coated with the creamy salted egg, quite different from how they do it elsewhere. I would say that I enjoyed it too.

We also had the Foochow chao chai (preserved vegetable) soup…

…with an assortment of seafood delights. Normally, we would have this with chicken or fish slices. I think my friend must have liked it a lot for he finished his bowl within seconds…and unfortunately, the serving was just enough for the seven of us, one bowl each. Seeing that, I gave him my bowl to enjoy – after all, I could go back for more anytime or I could even cook my own.

I must say that was truly a sumptuous dinner and all of us certainly enjoyed it very much…and it was indeed most thoughtful and sweet of my friends from Singapore to ask my missus and daughter to come along as well, thank you all so very very much.

The cost of the food came up to RM120.00 (around SGD46.00) for six adults and one child…and if anyone is interested and does not know where this restaurant is , it is along Wong King Huo Road, to the left of Medan Mall, back to back with Courts Mammoth. Just go around that small area of shops and look for one seafood place that’s very busy and crowded – you can’t miss it!

The very next day, my friends would be leaving town…but no, it was not over yet. Do hang around for more…(to be continued)